Machine for lasting rubber-sole footwear



L. A. CASGRAIN.

MACHINE FOR LASTING RUBBER SOLE FOOTWEAR.

.PPLICATION FILED MILE-H1919.

Patented Aug". 16, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

L. A. CASGRAIN.

MACHINE. FOR LASTING RUBBER SOLE FOOTWEAR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6r 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Patented Aug. 16, 1921..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE.

LOUIS A. GASG-RAIN, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR '1'0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

OF NEW JERSEY.

A CORPORATION IACHIN'E FOR LAS'lING RUBBER-SOLE FOOTWEAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 16', 1921.

Application filed January 6-, 1919. Serial No. 269,839.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS A. CAscRAIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for Lasting Rubber-Sole Footwear, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the manufacture of footwear and especially to the lasting of rubber sole footwear.

The machine shown to exemplify the invention is especially designed for tensioning an upper about a last and securing the edges of the upper to an inner sole which has an adhesive coating applied to its upper surface, the parts being subsequently permanently secured by vulcanization.

Heretofore such shoes have been lasted almost entirely by hand, the customary manner being for the operator to assemble the inner sole, together with the shoe upper, upon a last and then to bring the marginal portions of the upper into adhesion with the adhesively coated surface of the inner sole with his fingers, thereafter rolling the overlaid marginal portion of the inner sole by a relatively heavy hand roller to insure proper and continuous connection between the margin of the shoe upper and the inner sole.

This method of lasting vulcanizable rubber sole shoes is not only exceedingly labo-- rious and slow, but it is extremely difficult to obtain the desired precision and umformity in the quality of the work.

A particular object of the present invention is to provide a lasting machine especially adapted for lasting rubber sole shoes, by the use of which such shoes may be lasted uniformly, with more intimate and continuous union than heretofore, and whereby the cost of the lasting operation may be materially reduced and the output capacity increased.

A further particular object is to provide a lasting machine of the character stated by the use of which it is possible not only to secure uniform and continuous union be.-

tween the adhesively connected portions but also to dispense entirely with any rolling operation.

In accordance with another feature, the invention provides for continuously tensiomng and pressing edge portions of the upper into lasted position and continuing the said operation without interruption upon successive portions of the upper progressively.

lVith these and other objects in view and in accordance with important features of the invention, the illustrated machine comprises a pair of movably mounted rotatable wipers between which the shoe to be lasted may be inserted and between which the lasted shoe may be shifted longitudinally or around so that the wiping action will be continuous.

In the illustrated embodiment of theinvention, the lasting means comprises not only a pair of rotatable wipers between which the shoe to be lasted is inserted but also a pair of rotatable wipers which are mounted in a plane different from that of the first-mentioned wipers, but the plane of rotation of all of the wipers being in such substantial alinement that the first-mentioned wipers tension the upper about the last and the other wipers act upon the marginal portions of the upper to press them down upon the inner sole and produce in a better manner the resultsheretofore attempted by the use of the hand roller mentioned.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a plurality of rotators so mounted and actuated as to provide for simultaneous operation on opposite portions of the upper while the shoe is on its last, and also to enable the shoe to be so manipulated that the wiping operation .may, without break or interruption, be continued along one margin of the lasted upper, as around the toe portion. Another important feature resides 1n the provision of drawing and pressing lasting elements, the operation of which is continuous but the effective pressure of which may be varied by the operator.

It will be noted that the operation of the lasting devices, first against the side faces of he shoe in the direction of the height of the shoe and then over onto the shoe bottom by a continuity of operative movement, is similar to the action of the fingers of an operator in lasting a shoe by hand, but without producing irregular effects, such as are due, for example, to the operators release of a portion of the upper in order to grasp a new portion.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the invention will be defined in the appended claims.

Of the accompanying drawings in which, without being limited to the details thereof, I illustrate one embodiment of the invention Figure lis a side elevation of the machine;

- Fig. 2 represents an elevation, on a larger scale, and partly broken out, looking from the left of Fig. 1, the protective shield being shown in sect1on;' and Fig. 3 represents a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The frame standard 12 has a shaft housing 13 and a protective shield 14. Depending from the upper portion of the housing 13 are bearings 15 for two parallel shafts 16 having intermeshing gears 17 one of said shafts having a belt wheel 18.

The mechanisms for acting on opposite side portions of the shoe are duplicates of each other and therefore most of the following description relatin to one of said mechanisms will apply equally to the other. Fig. 2 best illustrates the duplication.

. Hung so that they may swing on the respective shafts 16 are castings having sleeve portions 19 to form bearings for shafts hereinafter to be described, and two arms 20 are loosely mounted on said shafts 16. The arms 20have intermeshing toothed segments 21 so that anything which causes one of the castings to swing on its shaft 16 will correspondingly swing the other casting in the opposite direction. To effect this swinging operation for purposes hereinafter described, one of the arms 20 is provided with an outwardly extending arm 22 having a link or rod 23 connected to it, said rod being adapted to be operated by any suitable device such as a treadle, not shown. A collar 24 is secured to the rod 23 and between said collar and a lug 25 of the frame 12 is mounted a spring 26. This structure is provided to cause the two castings and the parts supported and swung thereby as hereinafter described to be normally held apart by the action of spring 26 but capable of being swung toward each other by the operator when he depresses the rod 23.

Mounted to rotate in each casting sleeve 191s a shaft 27, each of said shafts having a gear 28 meshing with one of the gears 17 The two gears 28 do not mesh with each 'other. To the other end ofeach shaft 27 is secured an 'annularly chambered disk or carrier 29 carrying a plurality of wipers 30 mounted on pivots 31 and normally pressed outwardly by springs 32. One way of effecting'the normal tendency of the wipers to move outwardly is by attaching one end of each spring 32 to a wiper 30 and extending the free end of that spring to overlap the next wiper as indicated in Fig. 2.

As will be presently explained, it is necessary that the wipers 30 shall be practically confined. within the circumference of the carriers 29 during a portion of their rotation. To hold them in I provide two series of rolls 33 arranged in curves and mounted in cages 34 having ears 35 secured to arms 36, 37 of a bracket 38 mounted upon sleeve extensions 39 of the casting bearings 19. In order that these brackets 38.may be rotatively adjusted upon the stationary sleeve bearings 39, said brackets are split or d1- vided and provided with. transverse clamp bolts 40.

Each bracket 38 carries a stud shaft or spindle 41 secured therein as by a collar 42 of the stud and a binding nut 43 (Fig. 3). Mounted loosely upon the shaft 41 is a. pinion 44 which meshes wit-h an intermediate pinion 45 loose upon a stud shaft carried by the bracket 38'which pinion in turn meshes with a toothed portion 46 of the shaft 27. The intermediate pinion 45 is not shown in Fig. 3 because the line of section runs behind said pinion. Said pinion 44 has a sleeve extension 47 upon which are splined or keyed two wipers in the form of' disks 48, said disks being retained on the sleeve 47 by a nut 49.

The wiper. disks 4,8 material, metal or otherwise, and with or without corrugated peripheries. The same is true of the swinging wiper segments 30.

In operation, supposing the two duplicate wiper mechanisms are swung apart by the spring 26, a last with the upper thereon is introduced to substantially the position illustrated in Fig. 2 and then, it being understood that the shafts are running and that the wipers are rotating in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 2, the operator depresses the rod 23 causing the castings 19 to swing toward each other so' that the wiper disks 48 will be brought into contact with the portions 'of the upper at the sides of the last and immediately draw the upper tightly to the last. At the same time, the swinging wipers 30 act upon the edges of the upper to carry them in over the marginal portions of the sole and press them down upon the sole. This is supposing that the Work upon the shoe is along such portion thereof that simultaneous operations can be effected pon may be of any suitable opposite portions of the shoe. When, however, a portion of the shoe is reached such as the toe, when it is impossible to operate upon two parts simultaneously, the operator releases the rod 23 and then the spring 26 acts to swing the wiper mechanisms apart. The machine is so constructed that the said wiper mechanisms can swing far enough apart to widen the space between them so that the last may be turned to permit any portion of the shoe, such as the toe portion, to be brought to position to be operated upon by but one of the wiper mechanisms.

To adapt the machine to widely varyin sizes or widths of shoes it is desirable that the wiper disks 48 be adjusted toward and from each other independently of any variation of the normal distance between the wiper carriers 29. This adjustment is ef fected by means of the split brackets 38 which, as hereinbefore mentioned, may be rotatively adjusted upon the sleeve extensions 39 of the castings 19.

When the shoe on its last is being introduced toward the position indicated in Fig. 2, the operator may, if desirable, so hold the shoe for awhile that only the rotators 48 will act; that is, he can resist the normal tendency of the rotating disks 48 to frictionally elevate the shoe to a plane where the rotators 30 can operate on the edges of the upper, until the upper has been drawn tightly. Then the operator can cease resisting the lifting action of the rotators 48 so that the shoe will be automatically lifted to the plane required for the inward wiping and pressing operation of the rotators 30. The amount of lateral pressure of the rotators 48 upon the upper can be varied by the operator since said pressure is effected by operation of the rod 23 in opposition to spring 26.

While I have described the machine as useful in connection with the manufacture of rubber shoes, I do not limit myself to such use as it may also be employed for the lasting of leather shoes.

In the use of the machine no preliminary setting of the last in a required position is needed. The machine, so long as belt wheel 18 is running, is ready for instant use. The operator simply places the last, with the upper and insole thereon, in contact with one or both of the rotators 48 and the operation then commences, the operator shifting the last and shoe along or around to progressively draw and secure the upper. When the shoe is in the position shown in Fig. 2 there can be no uneven pulling of the upper because the pressure of both rotators 48 is equal on both sides. v

Having now described my invention, I claim as new:

1. A lasting machine having a pair of wipers movable toward and from each other between which the shoe to be lasted may be g upon different portions of a shoe upper in such a-linement that one acts in advance of the other todraw the upper toward the action of said other.

5. A machine for lasting a shoe comprising a pair of arms, means for swinging said arms toward and from each other, wipers carried by said arms, and means independent of the shoe for rotating said wipers.

6. A machine for lasting a shoe comprising a pair of arms, means for swinging said arms toward and from each. other, a plurality of wipers carriedby each of said arms, and means independent of the shoe for rotating said wipers.

7. A lasting machine comprising a pair of arms, means for swinging said arms toward and from each other, and a rotary member carried by each of said arms and having a plurality of swinging wipers.

8. A lasting machine comprising a pair of arms, means for swinging said armstoward and from each other, a rotary member carried by each of said arms and having a plurality of swinging wipers, and a lower wiping wheel carried by each of said arms.

9. A lasting machine comprising a pair of arms, means for swinging said arms toward and from each other, a rotary member carried by each of said arms and having a pluralityof swinging wipers, and a lower wiping wheel carried by each of said arms, said lower wheels being adjustably connected to said arms whereby the distance between them may be varied.

10. A lasting machine having, in combination, a pair of shafts, an arm depending from each of said shafts, a shaft mounted in each of said arms wipers carried by said depending arms, and means for continuously rotating said wipers.

11. A lasting machine comprising a pair of pivotally supported arms, means for yieldingly holding said arms normally swung apart, means for manually swinging said arms toward each other, and rotating wipers carried by said swinging arms.

12. A lasting machine having a rotary member provided with a plurality of wipers pivotally connected thereto and springs for urging said wipers outwardly, and means for confining the swinging wipers within a prehaving continuously operative lasting ele determined curved path during a portion of their rotation.

13. A lasting machine having a rotary member provided with a plurality of wipers pivotally connected thereto and urging said wipers outwardly, and means for confining the swinging wipers within a predetermined curved path during a portion of their rotation, said confining means comprising a cage having rolls in curved series.

14. A lasting machine having, in combination, a pair of rotary wiping members in spaced axial alinement, and another rotary wiping member mounted in a plane to operate in line with the space between the firstmentioned wiping members.

15. A machine of the character described, having continuously traveling wipers relatively located to operate simultaneously one upon side and another upon edge portions of an upper on a last to tension the upper and press its edges.

16. A machine of the character described, having continuously operative lasting elements tor simultaneous wiping action upon opposite side and edge portions of an upper on a last, said machine being constructed to permit a progressive relative movement of the lasted upper and the lasting elements in a direction along the last without interruption in the wiping operation.

17 A machine of the character described,

ments for wiping action upon side and edge portions of an upper on a last, said machine being constructed to permit simultaneous operation on opposite portions of the upper and to .enable the shoe so to be manipulated that the wiping operation may be continued along one margin of the lasted upper.

18. A lasting machine having, in combination, wipers arranged to engage opposite sides of a shoe, means whereby the wipers springs for may be moved bodily toward and from the shoe, and means for continuously operating the wipers during their bodily movements.

19. A lasting machine having, in combination, wipers arranged to engage opposite sides of a shoe, means for moving the wipers bodily toward and holding them against the shoe, and means for continuously operating the wipers.

20. A lasting machine having, in combination, wipers for engaging the opposite side and edge portions of an upper upon a last, means for holding the wipers against the p ing wiping movements to the wipers as the lasted shoe is fed between them.

21. A lasting machine having, in combination, two wipers for engaging opposite sides and means for continuously impartof a lasted shoe, two wipers for engaging opposite portions of the bottom of the shoe, and means for so operating the side wipers as to cause them to force the shoe into engagement with the bottom wipers.

22. A lasting machine having, in combination, two wipers for engaging opposite sides of a lasted shoe, two wipers for engaging opposite portions of the bottom of the shoe,

the members of the two series being movable bodily to permit the shoe to be fed between them, and means for so operating the side wipers as to cause them to force the shoe into engagement with the bottom wipers.

23. A lasting machine having, in combination, two pairs of wipers, the members of one pair being arranged to operate upon opposite localities at one portion of the shoe and the other pair being arranged tooperate upon two opposite localities at another portion of the shoe, and means for operating one pair in such manner as to press the shoe against the other pair.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

LOUIS A. CASGRAIN. 

